Happy Samhain?!?! Wasn’t that a week ago?

Many blessings to you and yours!

November 6th 2018, is the eve of the astronomical cross-quarter day of Samhain.

I began to observe Samhain on the astronomical cross-quarter over 15 years ago after I was wandering late one night. At this time I was already an experienced and practicing shaman. As the night grew later I could feel that which divided the worlds slowly growing weaker. I knew the day I was taught this would happen had already passed, but here it was, almost a week later. I… had questions.

I spent the following days pondering this. I knew that our calendar system was the cause of many holidays being shifted from their original dates, and I wondered if this could also be true with Samhain. IF this was the case, then it could be that what I was feeling was the day it should have been observed, and could have been observed by my ancestors before we adopted this calendar.

If the other sacred holidays of my ancestors were the solstices and equinoxes, then shouldn’t this night/day be the one that is directly between them? I sat down, looking up the days and times of the autumnal equinox and winter solstice, and did some math. It turned out that night, the one I felt was Samhain, was truly the eve of the astronomical cross-quarter! (of course I was excited about this discovery, but I was certainly not the first to work this out)

From that day forward I began to observe the cross-quarter holidays on their astronomical dates instead of the commonly observed dates. This had the added bonus of being able to observe the secular holidays like Halloween with my friends and family!

This year for Samhain myself and a small group of friends and family are having a simple, and short, memorial service for our dearly departed. We will toast and libate to each of our loved ones who have passed from this world, and ask blessings for the year ahead from our ancestors, the gods of our ancestors, and the spirits of this land.

My daughter will be gifted with a memorial talisman which contains some ashes of our beloved canine companion who passed away, and we will request that he watch over and protect her in the years to come.

If you’d like to be invited to future events like this, please don’t hesitate to contact me!